After still-deteriorating ratings during the fourth season, NBC originally planned to order just a shortened fifth season of only 13 episodes, but eventually settled for another full run, which was, either way, going to be the final season.

However, getting rejected by Valerie after proposing marriage eventually takes a toll on Tubbs too, and coupled with him and Crockett feeling disappointed in how they were treated by the government regarding their involvement in the case of protecting Costa Morada dictator Manuel Borbon, Tubbs and Crockett end up ...

In the United States, the show was aired on NBC. The first episode of the series premiered on September 16, 1984, with the series concluding on June 28, 1989, after five seasons. Due to its sensitive nature, The Final Episode was aired on USA Network thus concluding the series on January 25, 1990.

Don Johnson was ready to leave the show at the end of its second season, and the studio lined up Mark Harmon or Treat Williams to take over the role of Sonny Crockett.